They’re on the go, living their lives on smartphones and using social media. They’re skipping the doctor more and more, relying instead on pharmacists for medical advice. And they want to save money.
A new report shows that Hispanics represent a large, mostly untapped market for health care companies. And while this demographic has largely been left behind in the U.S. health care system, that is about to change.
“I definitely think that Hispanics are paving the way when it comes to the use of technology, particularly social media,” says Ceci Connolly, managing director of PwC’s Health Research Institute, which issued the report.
“They really live their lives on their devices.”
“It surprised us a little bit that they are ahead of the rest of the country when you look at how they live their lives and in the way that they talk about having multiple jobs, being on the go. They really live their lives on their devices.”
An estimated 10 million Hispanics are newly eligible for health insurance under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare. The law creates online insurance exchanges where people can buy private health insurance, often heavily subsidized by the federal government, and it also encourages states to expand the Medicaid health insurance plan for low-income people.